A Country Party Band with a ribald sense of humour and a social conscience.

We've Been Tagged

Well here's an interesting development. The Grateful We're Not Dead blog has been tagged by a Plurk friend, JimBob51, in Australia. The first thing I have to do in return is to shout his blog: AOEDE. As explained on his blog header, "Aoede is one of the three original Muses. She is the Muse of Song or Voice. It is also the name of one of the Moons of Jupiter". Jim's blog is his spot to muse on just about anything and it can be an interesting read. So drop by and have a look.

This tagging of the Grateful We're Not Dead blog resulted from my interaction with my friends on Plurk. Plurk has become my main vehicle for building up a social network of friends and acquaintances around the globe. Now as I understand the rules of tagging, I have three tasks to complete:

Shout your taggers blog

Write 5 Interesting facts about yourself

Tag six more blogs

I completed Task #1 in the first paragraph, so on to the remaining two.

Since the Grateful We're Not Dead blog is dedicated to the music and the comings and goings of the band I guess I'll say a few things about my musical background pre-"Grateful We're Not Dead". You may not find these interesting, but I have to write something.

I started playing guitar in 1956 when I was 13. The old guitar that I used to learn on had strings that were at least 1/4 inch above the fret board and the pain from playing was almost enough to bring tears to my eyes.

The first time I ever played in a band was New Years Eve, 1958 in Lanark, Ontario. The band was the Mississippi River Boys, a country dance band that played throughout Lanark, Renfrew, Carleton and Frontenac counties in Ontario. My first job was as a drummer. If I remember correctly we were paid $40 each for that night. For regular dances we usually received $5 to $10 for the night.

My first electric guitar was a H44 Stratotone by Harmony Guitar. I bought it and an amplifier in a pawn shop in the Byward Market in Ottawa in 1959.

The most interesting place I ever played with the Mississippi River Boys was Rideau Hall, residence of the the Governor-General of Canada. This was for the staff Christmas Party in 1965. The Governor-General, Georges P. Vanier, and his wife were in attendance and appeared to enjoy the country music, especially the fiddle tunes..

I played with the Mississippi River Boys from 1958 until 1985 when we disbanded.

Now the final and most difficult task: Tag six other blogs. Hmmmmm. I'm thinking, thinking, thinking.... OK, some may have already been tagged, but here goes in no particular order: